Stuart Armstrong awoke to the news that he passed the next phase in his law degree yesterday morning. The Celtic midfielder, however, faces a very different kind of examination over the coming weeks as the Parkhead side seek to arrest what has become an alarming slump to their European fortunes.

The past two successive campaigns at this stage of the season have been forgettable. Armstrong used the word “torture” to describe missing out on a place in the coveted group stages of the UEFA Champions League last season and having to watch as Malmo, who put Celtic out, took their place alongside Real Madrid, Shakhtar and PSG when the competition began in earnest.

“Everyone wants to get to the group stages,” he said. “It’s a personal ambition of mine, that’s for sure. It was torture missing out in the final game last season - and then seeing the group Malmo ended up with. It was upsetting to have to watch and we don’t want to go through that again.”

Yet, if Celtic are to harbour any ambitions about aligning themselves in the elite company of Europe’s premier competition, they will need to haul up their socks. And fast. Lincoln Red Imps, a team made up of police officers and customs officials – some of whom had done a day’s work before giving Celtic a bloody nose on Tuesday night – will need to be deposed of on Wednesday night with a performance significantly different to the one that Celtic produced in Gibraltar.

Even then, though, the likelihood is that Celtic would then square up to Kazakhstan’s Astana, a team who are currently going into their own second leg qualifier on the back of a 0-0 away result to Zalgiris Vilnius. Astana successfully negotiated three qualifying rounds last term to make it into the group stages of the lucrative tournament and will fancy themselves to take Celtic, should Brendan Rodgers’ side prevail in Glasgow this week.

Astana was arguably the worst draw Celtic could have got given both the quality of opposition and the difficult the journey presents.

“There’s always going to be travel issues and if both of us get through they will need to come here as well,” shrugged Armstrong. “I’ve had a few long haul trips. I’ve been to Georgia and to Moscow. It’s the football life. You are constantly travelling to different places so we are all used to it.

“The club are really good at dealing with things like compensating for the time differences and preparing properly.We played in Azerbaijan last season so that experience would help, especially as we were playing against a team that was very good and moved the ball well.”

The reaction to the defeat from Lincoln was such that news outlets from around the globe picked up on it, with the club reduced to a figure of fun on social media. Rodgers insisted afterwards it wasn’t an embarrassment but many Celtic fans would have had just cause to differ.

Armstrong, though, has revealed that the former Liverpool boss was as calm in the dressing room afterwards as he was in front of the microphones.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Naturally the fans will be upset about the result and the performance,” he said. “We’re not proud of it either. I don’t think you can just hide under the duvet.

“You have to reflect on the game but not dwell on it too much. You need to focus and prepare for the next game. It obviously wasn’t the result the manager was looking for. But he told us just to be calm and to learn from it.

“He was pretty much the same in private as he was in public. His philosophy is that we are all together and pushing for the same thing. He wants us to be very much a team.”

Armstrong’s own European debut came in a Europa League meeting at Celtic Park against Inter Milan, a game in which he scored. Since then, though, the trajectory in European performances has been on a downward spiral with Rodgers’ appointed to restore Celtic as a force in that environment.

Celtic play Wolfsburg this afternoon at Celtic Park, a game that should enable them to brush off the cobwebs and prepare them to atone for Tuesday’s debacle in Gibraltar in the second leg.

“Playing a team like Wolfsburg will be good preparation because they are a quality side and move the ball quickly,” said Armstrong.” They have quality players and it can only benefit us for Wednesday.

“They are a very good side and probably the best side we’ll have faced so far. The tempo will be high and it will be on a nice surface so I think it will be a good game.”